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| [image source: Amazon] |
Book: Software Security for Developers: With Examples in Java and Spring
- https://www.amazon.com/Software-Security-Developers-examples-Spring/dp/1617298581
- https://www.manning.com/books/software-security-for-developers
Publisher: Manning
Publication Date: June 9, 2026
Authors:
Adib Saikali
Distinguished Software Engineer @ Tanzu
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adibsaikali/
Laurentiu Spilca
Principal Development Consultant, Endava
Bucharest, Romania
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurspilca/?locale=en
Review Rating: 4-Stars
Review Title: A good book for an introduction to Software Security - for both Developers and Managers
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I enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written, and provides a broad survey of important software security concepts and techniques – with easy to understand illustrations, descriptions, and code examples.
The companion GitHub repository provides 27 subfolders with Java & Spring examples.
Chapters 2-17 include a number of exercises (182), and at the end of the chapter there is a consistent approach in providing Exercise answers – as well as a Summary. The summary bullets are meaningful, and well written.
If the reader leverages the contents of each chapter, including the exercises, and the code examples – then this book will provide the diligent reader with a very HANDS-ON learning experience.
Some minor nits:
The naming convention of the folders in the companion GitHub repository for the book would have been better named using a consistent 2-character identifier for the chapter, and a 2-character identifier for the exercise - so that a natural sort order would be enforced.
"Single-sign on" is improperly written, it should be "Single sign-on"
page-v
page-211
page-335
While the writing is crisp & concise, and the coverage of the subject matter is *mostly* sufficient for a book of this length – there are three notable deficiencies:
1. The book suffers from a paucity of coverage for the very important topic of Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC).
Although the book was published in June 2026, there are only two pages (53, 75) that vaguely refer to NIST cryptographic algorithms standards – and neither of those mention the NIST work on Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC). Nor are there any "additional reading" suggestions.
Further, on Page-94, this statement is made:
"Cryptographers are building encryption algorithms that can resist quantum computers, but none has been standardized so far."
- This is incorrect.
On August 13, 2024, NIST released final versions of the first three Post Quantum Crypto Standards: FIPS 203, FIPS 204, and FIPS 205. [see NIST press release]
✅ Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 203, intended as the primary standard for general encryption. Among its advantages are comparatively small encryption keys that two parties can exchange easily, as well as its speed of operation. The standard is based on the CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm, which has been renamed ML-KEM, short for Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism.
✅ FIPS 204, intended as the primary standard for protecting digital signatures. The standard uses the CRYSTALS-Dilithium algorithm, which has been renamed ML-DSA, short for Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm.
✅ FIPS 205, also designed for digital signatures. The standard employs the SPHINCS+ algorithm, which has been renamed SLH-DSA, short for Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Algorithm. The standard is based on a different math approach than ML-DSA, and it is intended as a backup method in case ML-DSA proves vulnerable.
On March 11, 2025 NIST released Hamming Quasi-Cyclic (HQC) as the fifth algorithm for post-quantum asymmetric encryption as used for key encapsulation / exchange.The new algorithm is as a backup for ML-KEM, the main algorithm for general encryption.
Additionally, there are international alternatives to the NIST standard, that could have been briefly cited, and links provided. For example, see this Akamai article, 'A Guide to International Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards', published on Oct 08, 2025.
2. The book suffers from an absence of "further reading" suggestions for the important topic of Zero Trust.
3. The book does not mention Homomorphic Encryption.
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Note: 2026-07-26 Sunday: I will probably add another 10-20, or 30 links here, before I am finished.
These are just some of the suggested additional reading resources such a book could have included:
(illustrative, not exhaustive)
Status: Work-In-Progress
Suggested sites for further reading:
- Prof Bill Buchanan OBE FRSE (Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Royal Society of Edinburgh, Professor of Cryptography at Napier University)
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/billatnapier/
- https://www.youtube.com/billbuchanan
- https://asecuritysite.com/
- https://asecuritysite.com/blogs
- https://asecuritysite.com/cyberdata
- https://asecuritysite.com/challenges
- Also see his "pqc" page cited in the section below.
Suggested links for relevant IETF RFCs:
- JSON Web Token (JWT)
- RFC 7519: JSON Web Token (JWT)
- Bluffers Guide To JWTs. My Top 20 important things about JWTs: | by Prof Bill Buchanan OBE FRSE
- OAuth 2.0
- RFC 6749: The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework
- OAuth 2.1
- DRAFT: The OAuth 2.1 Authorization Framework
- TLS 1.3
RFC 8446: The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3- RFC 9846: The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3
Suggested software development (security-related) books for further reading:
(Note: I will be citing books published by Manning, O'Reilly, and Packt - as well as some others)
- Secure APIs, Design, build, and implement (October 2025)
- Microservices Patterns, 2nd Edition (Manning MEAP currently available, Spring 2027)
- by Chris Richardson
- Note: While Chris' book is not strictly focused on Software Security - there are patterns covered in his book that do touch on that, as well as closely related concerns.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/pojos/
- https://www.chrisrichardson.net/
- https://eventuate.io/
- https://microservices.io/
Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) links for further reading:
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cryptographic links for further reading:
- Use of Cryptographic Modules by Federal Agencies and Departments
- https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/cryptographic-module-validation-program
- "FIPS 140-2 and FIPS 140-3 requirements are applicable to all U.S. Federal agencies. Agencies must use cryptographic-based security systems to provide adequate information security for all operations and assets as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 278g-3."
- "Non-validated cryptography is viewed as providing no protection to the information or data—in effect the data would be considered unprotected plaintext. If the agency specifies that the information or data be cryptographically protected, then FIPS 140-2 or FIPS 140-3 is applicable. In essence, if cryptography is required, then it must be validated. Should the cryptographic module be revoked, use of that module is no longer permitted."
- NIST Special Publication 800-175A:
- Guideline for Using Cryptographic Standards in the Federal Government: Directives, Mandates and Policies
- NIST Special Publication 800-175B:
- Guideline for Using Cryptographic Standards in the Federal Government: Cryptographic Mechanisms
